


i'll be your shelter

by jamesniall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 04:43:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11223573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamesniall/pseuds/jamesniall
Summary: Friday nights always meant a bit of trouble.It was on fridays that most families went away for the weekend, most of them in a hurry and exceeding every road limit to ever exist, it was on fridays that college students went out to party, when companies tended to do birthday parties and when everyone just seemed to be out in the streets from very early in the morning and until very late in the night.It's not even late in the night,Louis always says, every friday at around 4 am,this still counts as early morning. They keep us up 24 hours on fridays because humans can't stay away from a bottle of beer and a fistfight.On this particular friday, though, it was different.-Or, an AU where Harry and Niall are both superheroes & Niall gets severely hurt during a battle which leads to Harry's concern & overprotectiveness, distracting him enough to risk both of their lives.





	i'll be your shelter

**Author's Note:**

> jeeeeeeeeesus this one is really short and it took me 3500 years to finish it.
> 
> this is the answer to a lil prompt that a cute lovely (and very patient) anon left me on tumblr dot com and im SO SORRY. VERY VERY SORRY that it took me so long to get it done. first i thought i had it done but changed it, then i thought it was too short but the only thing that ended up being long was the time that it took me to finish it.
> 
> i have to thank you, tho, lil adorable anon, and every one that didnt gave up on me and for keeping me motivated and for all the lovely messages you sent me saying to take my time, you helped me A LOT. i love you. and i hope you like this and that waiting so long was somehow worth it.
> 
> ALSO. this wasn't beta'ed in any form, all mistakes are mine, im sorry.

Friday nights always meant a bit of trouble.

It was on Fridays that most families went away for the weekend, most of them in a hurry and exceeding every road limit to ever exist, it was on Fridays that college students went out to party, when companies tended to do birthday parties and when everyone just seemed to be out in the streets from very early in the morning and until very late in the night.  _It's not even late in the night,_ Louis always says, every Friday at around 4 am,  _this still counts as early morning. They keep us up 24 hours on Fridays because humans can't stay away from a bottle of beer and a fistfight._

It's always minor incidents. A car rear-ending another, drunk men spilling beers on other drunk men and causing the silliest brawl, teenagers going home alone with their phones out and getting mugged, the list went on and on. Fridays were associated with annoyance, at having to help move cars around before a messy jam of traffic started, getting drunk men to stop throwing uncoordinated punches and another drunk man, running a couple miles to catch the mugger and get back the phone. It was never big, never meant the adrenaline kick that most people associated with superheroes, it never meant gunshots, danger, blood, and death.

On this particular Friday, though, it was different.

They heard the screams first, as they always did. They all could hear perfectly well, but it was Louis' advanced hearing that told them the sound was coming from the south end of London, more specifically from one of the darkest alleys that one of the shadiest neighborhoods had. 

It sounded stereotypical. Louis was already imagining the mugging. "It's coming from a woman. I can't hear anything else of importance other than the screams and footsteps getting away. It's 100% another mugging." He said with a roll of his eyes. "And I am so  _not_ pausing the movie just because of that."

"We're superheroes, Lou, I think it's part of your paygrade to pause the movie and help humankind out." Liam replied.

"We don't even have a paygrade, Liam, stop trying. It's just another Friday night thing. The woman can get herself another phone."

"Or you can pause the movie for fifteen minutes at most and save her the trouble of getting a new phone. She'd lose all her contacts and photos and notes." Harry added from his place under Niall, who seemed half asleep on Harry's lap.

"Shut up, Harry." Louis groaned. 

"Don't be fucking rude." Niall mumbled, his face only half visible, hidden in the crook of Harry's neck. He looked up to get a piece of Harry's hair off from where it had stuck in his lips. "We can go if you want to stay."

"What do you mean?" Louis and Liam said in unison, then proceeded to punch the other's arm.

"Well, we all know it's not the battle of the year, Haz and I can go check out what it was all about, catch the guy and come back home in less than half an hour. We're not even watching the movie anyway."

"Right. I'm surprised you don't have your hand down Niall's pants at this point, Harry."

"You didn't give us a blanket this time, we're not that shameless." Harry smirked, pressing a soft but noisy kiss on Niall's exposed neck.

"Oh shut the fuck up." Louis groaned, a small smile playing at his lips. "You're gross."

"We're not letting you two go alone, though." Liam stepped in, "we know sticking together it's part of the rules. Remember that time we rescued a kitten from a very high three? That was silly and you three ended up playing in the swings while I flew to grab the little thing, but we still were all together. In case something went wrong."

"That was our second mission, Li. We know better now. I think they'll be alright."

Liam made a face at Louis, then another at Harry and Niall, but before Louis could say he looked constipated he ended up nodding anyway. "Alright. But you take your phones with you and if we call you through the system you answer right away. Deal?"

Niall smiled, stretching his sleepy limbs and nodding, "Deal. We'll be fine, Li."

"Oh, so don't I get a say in this? You just decide I'm going with you?" Harry teased Niall, already standing up from the sofa despite his words.

"You know you'd never let him go alone, stop pretending you're not disgustingly codependent." Liam said, taking all the space of the sofa and getting a glare from Louis, who was sitting on the floor by his feet.

"Haz, you can stay, it's not-" Niall started as they made their way to the door.

"I am not letting you go alone." Harry replied, and as they closed the door the only thing they heard was a scoff and a laugh from Liam and Louis.

 

-

 

"It was the south, right? Close to that shady club we had to get some drunk guys out last week?”

“Yep. The very same one we seem to visit every Friday night.”

“Can’t complain.” Niall says with a shrug. “Every time we help out in there the bartender has a pint ready.”

“Yeah, right. Have you ever wondered why is it that he only ever gives a pint to you?” Harry scoffs. “He fancies you. Dumbass doesn’t even try to hide it.”

“Oh shut up, that’s not true. He knows I’m with you, you always kiss me really hard, right in front of him after we- Oh.” Niall faltered, looking up at Harry with squinted eyes. “You can’t actually be jealous. He’s harmless.”

Harry shrugs with a sly smile on his face. “Doesn’t hurt to show off a kiss.”

Niall would slap his arm if they weren’t flying 20 feet up in the sky.

“Think it’s alright if we get down here and walk around till we reach the alley? Might catch either the thief or the woman looking for help.” Harry suggests and after Niall nods they land smoothly in solid pavement.

They walk around for about ten minutes but they don’t see a soul. No cars, no cabs, not even drunk teenagers can be heard in the streets. By the time they get to the alley Niall feels a bad vibe coming from the entire situation.

“Maybe we should head back.” Harry says, voice quiet and if the street wasn’t so quiet Niall wouldn’t be able to catch the slight quiver in it.

“Something feels off about this.” Niall says, almost whispering. “Let’s just check the alley properly to see if there’s any clue of what happened. Then we fly back.”

Harry nods silently, and the continue their path till they reach the dark end of the alley.

It’s completely empty. Or so they think.

There is no woman, and Niall’s vision doesn’t show him anyone around the perimeter.

“Maybe it was just a group of teenagers joking around,” Harry says, and Niall’s just about to agree. About to say it’s better if they go home and call it a night. But he hasn’t even opened his mouth to speak when he hears footsteps looming closer.

At first none of them can pinpoint where they’re coming from. When they hear them from their right they turn and it seems like it’s coming from their left. That, and the chill they’re feeling through their backs, is what tells them they’re not dealing with a human in distress.

It’s when Niall sees wet footprints coming from behind Harry that he realizes who they’re dealing with.

They fought with this same man about two years ago, when they were just starting and he ruined their first mission out of London. He escaped after the confrontation but they managed to get some basics facts on him. He works alone. Always carries two sharp knives, one in each hand, with who knows how many in the sheaths in his sleeves and pants. Has the power of invisibility and for some reason he hates them all.

He sees the glint of the knife first and grabs Harry by the arm so hard he falls on his knees behind Niall. He doesn’t pay any mind to it, trying to focus on the small leverage he has because of his vision. He gets another glimpse of the guy’s arm and jumps backwards. He feels the blunt of the knife tear the sleeve of his shirt.

They didn’t even put on their superhero suits for this. Seeing as it was little, simple Friday-trouble.

“Niall! Watch out!” Harry yells from behind him, still on the floor but getting his gloves out of his back pockets so he can blast fire without hurting himself, he’s already at risk for not having the entire protective suit, and Niall is not gonna let him get hurt tonight.

They shuffle for a bit. Harry throwing balls of fire trying to get the armor of the guy to break a bit so they can see more of his skin, making it easier for Niall to fully see him in the deep dark of the night if he focuses enough.

Once one of Harry’s fire balls catch him straight in the chest and half of his suit catches fire, Harry is able to throw him against the wall, letting Niall grab one of the discarded knifes from the floor and press it down on his chest.

“What the fuck do you have against us?” Niall demands. Refusing to let his hand shake too much and risk letting go of the knife. He’s exhausted. Using his vision so strongly in a dark alley against someone whose power is invisibility took a toll on him and he can already feel the impending headache he’ll feel for the rest of the week.

Harry is standing in front of the guy, his entire stance a clear _you try something and you’re dead._ His face is flushed, the vein on his neck throbbing as he clenches his fists, ready to blast balls of fire if they guy were to move an inch.

“It’s nothing personal.” He spits, there’s blood on his nose and forehead and his hands are red and bloody from when he tried to cover himself from the fire Harry aimed at him.

“What the fuck do you want? Why did you do this?” Harry snarls, a spark coming out from one of his fingers and making the man flinch against the wall.

“I knew not all of you would come out. Not after the bunch of silly shit people cause on a Friday night. And if I wanted to dismantle you guys, well, I had to start with something.”

“Why dismantle us?” Harry hisses, “We’re just trying to save the world, help out a bit, even if it’s the silliest things. You have a fucking superpower too, why are you using it against us and not in favor of the entire world?”

“Always the sensible one, aren’t you?” The man claims with a bitter smile. “I had a place with you guys.” He begins, “I was part of your team. Initially we were supposed to be five. All of us complementing one another and being a group of goodie two shoes. But since Louis has control of all four elements, you an advanced control of fire and strength, Niall with his stupid super vision and healing, and Liam, who already has part of an invisibility power I was not needed and they sent me back to training so I could be better. So I could be like you guys.” He spits bitterly. “But I was already ready. I knew I was, I don’t need to be like you guys, I can be by my own fucking self and save the word. Even if part of the mission is having to kill you four, I’ll do whatever it takes to have at least this part of the world relying only on me.”

When he finishes, Niall’s not expecting the guy to grab Harry harshly by the hand and squeezing. A squeeze hard enough to get the blast of fire Harry had ready to come out, with Harry’s arm bended as it was, it struck Niall right on his upper chest and neck, the pain so intense he had to let go of the man’s shoulder, dropping the knife in the process, to try to get the fire to die and lessen the damage, even though it was already done. He was already down on the floor trying his best to not let tears of agonizing pain blur his vision.

In a second that feels like an hour to Niall, he sees the man grab his knife back and without letting go of Harry’s arm, he points it at Harry’s back while Niall is unable to stand up and fight.

“Shoot him.” The guy demands, squeezing Harry’s arm so hard Niall can almost feel the bruises forming. “I want you to shoot a blast of fire and burn him until he dies. Then I’ll kill you myself.”

Seeing as the dude has all of his attention on Harry, Niall knows it’s now or never.

He moves his legs, trying not to move his upper body if he can help it, and in a single movement he’s up and jumping to get a kick at the guy’s chest. He uses the momentum and the shock and pushes Harry away. The force of it making him cry out as he feels his burnt skin stretch and bleed.

When he looks up Harry’s trying to get blood flow back to his hand so he can shoot at the guy again, but he takes a second too long.

A second in which the man gets the chance to reach out and grab a knife that laid forgotten on the ground. A second that passes with Niall struggling to get his breathing back to normal to try to keep fighting through the pain. A second that’s spent on hoping Liam and Louis are on their way.

Niall feels on every nerve of his body the knife that cuts through his back. A little down below his ribs but high enough he knows it didn’t hit any vital organ.

It hurts, though. It tears through him so quickly he can’t help the agonizing scream he lets out at the excruciating pain.

Beside him, he can feel Harry scream just as loud at him. He’s pointing both his hands at the guy’s chest and the fireball he throws hits him hard enough he falls unconscious to the ground.

Harry’s immediately on Niall. Tears brimming in his eyes as his hands shake, not daring to touch, but his eyes wide, assessing the damage so he can figure out how to help him.

“Niall.” He cries out, one hand finding Niall’s as the other goes to Niall’s back to where the knife is sticking out of his bloodied shirt. “It’s okay. It’s okay, you’re gonna be alright. The knife is not letting you bleed a lot but we still need to get you home. Liam and Louis are on their way and we’re gonna get you all patched up as soon as possible.” He says, tears falling freely from his eyes and squeezing Niall’s hand hard.

“Haz,” Niall rasps out. Flinching when just talking jostles the knife and makes him cry out.

“No, not. Don’t speak, Ni. Stay as still as possible, alright? I can’t lose you.” Harry sobs.

“Haz, you have to- have to kill him.” Niall whimpers, “He’s not gonna stop if we don’t stop him first.”

“I’m not leaving your side right now. Li and Lou and can end him when they get here, he’s–“ He doesn’t get to finish, though, because the guy comes behind him unheard and his fist connects hard with his head. Harry falls in a heap by Niall’s feet.

Niall screams out Harry’s name as he slowly gets up to his knees. Harry groans, but he’s clearly confused and unable to stand up and Niall only has one thing in mind right in that moment. It’s not his burns, which are glistening with blood and feel like he’s skin is ripping open with every move he makes. It’s not the knife on his back, pressing deep inside of him and making him want to kneel over and stay still until he can rest and use his healing powers. The only thing he focuses on is not letting Harry get hurt.

Niall knows Liam and Louis must be close. He knows that the better idea is to distract the man and wait for the other two to finish him.

He knows he won’t bleed out if he keeps the knife right where it is.

But he also knows that the guy wouldn’t hesitate to kill Harry with the other knife he has clutched tightly in his hand. He knows he doesn’t have the time to let Harry recover or to wait for the rest. So, the decision is made. Before he can think about it too much, he grabs the knife on his back and pushes it out, biting his lip until it bleeds so a scream doesn’t scape, his knees tremble when he dodges the knife the guys tries to gut him with, and when he least expects it, he slices the knife through the man’s chest.

He goes down immediately. Eyes wide but unseeing. He finally falls to the ground to never get up again.

So falls Niall, though.

Without the knife to stop the blood, his white shirt goes crimson red at an alarming rate. He closes his eyes for a second before he calls out for Harry to wake up. It takes about three times and a whole deal of pain until Harry groans and opens his eyes, clutching his head with both hands and shaking as he goes up to his knees.

It takes him a moment to realize Niall’s lying down, flat on his back. And that the guy has a knife stuck in his chest.

As soon as realization dawns on him, he crawls with shaky limbs to Niall, crying and screaming _what did you do? How did I let this happen? Tell me what to do! I can’t lose you!_

Niall tries to form words of comfort but they die before they make it out of his mouth. He tries to keep his eyes open, tries to keep his breathing steady and tries his very best to keep squeezing Harry’s hand.

He lets go when Harry presses down on his wound to stop the bleeding. He thinks he lets out a weak scream of pain but before he can try to latch onto consciousness he closes his eyes and everything goes black.

 

-

 

When he wakes up he can still feel pain in every inch of his body. Not as bad. More like a background noise that’s annoying more than anything. He can also feel a wave-like motion all over his most painful spots, and he knows he has rested well enough to kick-start his healing power and make the process much more easier and faster.

He’s comfy, and safe. And as he regains consciousness he starts to slowly feel a hand gently squeezing his, a warm weight on his unharmed shoulder and hair tickling the side of his face. He can also faintly hear Harry speaking.

“-also you looked really hot when we were fighting out there, you always do. Better than any other superhero out there, you are. Always ready to fight and protect. Have I ever told you how much I love you? You better wake up so I can tell you a million times how much you mean to me. Need you to wake up so you can taste the incredible Irish breakfast I have ready for you. Breakfast in bed. With cuddles. How does that sound eh?-“

“Sounds good.” Niall says, interrupting Harry halfway through his rant. Though his voice comes out painfully dry and he feels the itchy need to cough, and he knows how much that’d hurt.

“You’re awake.” Harry says. Disbelief and happiness clear in his voice. “Liam said it might take you a couple days more but you’re already awake. Fuck.” He chokes on his next word and Niall finally opens his eyes to find him wiping his tears. The room is bright despite the closed curtains and Harry looks beautiful as he does every morning. Despite the nasty bruise on his forehead. Niall can’t believe he’s so lucky to wake up to this.

“I love you.” Niall says, voice still as raspy but needing desperately to put it out there. To say it out loud. After feeling so scared that he’d never get the chance to say it one more time. “So much.”

“I love you too,” Harry says. Tears spilling over one more time. “You scared me so bad last night, I can’t believe you did that, Ni, what the fuck?” He tries his best to look angry, but his hands are shaking as he gently and very carefully helps Niall to a sitting position and hands him a glass of cold water.

“Couldn’t let you get hurt.” Niall says, grabbing Harry’s hand and pressing a soft kiss to his burnt knuckles. Harry has other plans though, and he kneels on the bed close enough to kiss Niall, feeling returning to his lips faster than with the cold water.

“Never do anything remotely close to that crazy shit you pulled last night,” Harry insists, “You can try to not get me hurt physically, but if you’re hurting it hurts me too.” He continues, making Niall’s chest feel so tight he has to press his forehead against Harry’s to remind himself to breathe. Assuring himself he made it, they both did. And Niall will do everything in his reach to never be in that sort of situation again.

Harry stays pressed close to Niall for a couple more minutes until they can hear Liam and Louis getting closer to the door, Liam grumbling about letting them have their _sappy reunion moment, like in the movies, Lou!_ And Louis bickering back _I want some cuddles too, you know? They can share their fucking moment after the scare of last night._

When they open the door, Niall can’t help the smile that takes over his face. He has the sudden urge to stand up and hug all of them, keep them safe forever in his arms and never letting go. He doesn’t remember a thing from the night before, has no memories of how things went after he passed out, but if the bags under their eyes and the tear stained cheeks are any indicators, he knows they were worried too, that he hurt them too. He knows it from how hard they both hug him that he’ll always have them at his back, and he’s also always protecting theirs.

Niall still needs to fully recover. He knows most of his burns are gonna scar and they’ll always be an ugly reminded of the night he almost loses the only thing that truly matters to him. But he can’t quite care about that now.

Not when he has all his boys cuddling him, keeping him safe, making him feel loved. Not when he has Harry. With his reassuring smiles and his bright eyes. Not when he’s alive after a night when all the odds were against him.

He’s surrounded by family. Surrounded by love. And no supervillain will ever take that away from him.

**Author's Note:**

> im working on another prompt, by the same lovely anon who sent this one, but u can also send more, im always open for new ideas, even if they might take me 90 years to finish, u can be 100% sure im always trying my best.
> 
> u can hit me up on [tumblr](jamesniall.tumblr.com), too. thank you for reading/leaving kudos/leaving a comment/bookmarking/reblogging/etc everything means THE WORLD and i love u all.


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